Help mom get organized for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is May 11. If you're wracking your brain for ways to show your mom appreciation for all the sacrifices she made while raising you, here's a thought:

Why not offer to spend some time helping to sort through her financial, legal and medical paperwork to make sure everything is in order?

While flowers and candy offer immediate gratification, I'll bet your mom will truly appreciate the long-term value of getting her records in order now so that she – and you – will be able to take appropriate actions later on, should the need arise.

Some of the areas you might want to organize include:

Retirement income sources. Gather these documents so your mom will have a better idea how much income she'll have available throughout retirement:

• Company stock and bond certificates, and statements for other investment accounts.

Outstanding debts. Also gather monthly statements and outstanding balances owed for major expenses including: home mortgage or other property loans, home equity loan or line of credit, car loan or lease, credit cards, medical bills and personal loans.

Other important documents. Your mom should have documents instructing how she'd like her affairs to be handled, both while she's living and after death. Look for:

If you need help guiding financial discussions, Social Security has created a special website for women (www.ssa.gov/women) that provides information on retirement, disability and other issues — in English and Spanish.